This is something of a theme that has been building in life around me for a while now...not sure I can even place the beginning. I do know that it got a huge spotlight when my church began it's Audacious Prayers campaign. Praying that God would show audacious powers in our church through our prayers. Huh, what a concept, right? I think we often forget just how powerful a tool prayer really is. Yet it is spelled out for us time and again in the Bible:
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Matthew 21:22
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:16b
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be bold! Request a miracle! God is sovereign and capable of ANYTHING. He is a God of miraculous wonders! It is only us that minimize God's abilities, not God. There is no harm in asking God to do something this world will tell you is impossible.
Everything is possible for him who believes.
Mark 9:23
Does this mean that God answers all of our prayers in the way that we want him to? Absolutely not! Do we, as parents, give our children everything they ask for? Only God truly knows what is best for us, and we can trust Him to handle our requests without our directing Him. Many become disenchanted with prayer because they feel God is not answering their prayers (God is not immediately giving them what they have requested). May I suggest that God wants us to place all of our requests at His feet, and then let them go? This includes letting go of what the outcome will be. This does not mean God is limited and unable to respond immediately...it may just mean that He has something better in mind in His perfect timing. Don't give up praying!
I have my own prayers that are yet unanswered, but I am choosing to continue to boldly go before God in prayerful petition. I am asking Him to do wondrous things, having full faith in the fact that He can if He so chooses. I believe God! Not because of what He can do for me, but because of who He is.
I pray that God matures and increases my prayer life, and helps me teach its importance to my children. I pray the same for you.
Jeanine
I was woken in the middle of the night last night with the below thoughts swirling around in my head. I could not fall back asleep until I had decided that I had to get them out in writing. So here is my nighttime meditation:
I've come across many people in my life that have the attitude of believing that God's existence needs to be proven for them to have faith. As in scientifically proven with irrefutable evidence that can be seen and touched by everyone. I am one of many who believes that the proof of God surrounds us every day in our world.
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:20
The world around us can be explained scientifically as to the "how"...how is a rainbow formed? how does a sunrise or sunset create the hues of orange, red, etc.? But I would like to challenge everyone to consider that it doesn't explain the "why". Why is it necessary that a rainbow or colorful sunrises and sunsets exist at all? Why is every single snowflake unique in it's creation and, when fallen together, sparkle with such beauty? The answer for me is quite simple...so that we might know and recognize God.
There is something within us that responds to the creations of God. An uplifting of the soul upon the sight of some beauty in nature...a rainbow, sunrise, sunset, waterfall, perfectly formed snowflake, newborn child, the list is endless. The proof is in us. In how we respond to the glory of God's creation. That unmistakable part within us that stops in awe, perhaps even for a moment, that takes our breath away. Every single one of us has the proof of God's existence within ourselves. We were created with a part of us knowing there is a God. The difference lies in whether you accept Him or reject Him.
Coming back to science...there was no irrefutable proof in his lifetime that Copernicus' theory of the earth revolving around the sun was fact. He had to have a certain amount of faith, believing what he could not see. There are medical miracles that occur every single day that doctors are not able to explain, yet the proof that it happened is right there in front of them. They have the facts but lack the faith to believe it could be divine intervention.
Maybe what we lack is not proof but rather faith.
For those of you struggling with whether God exists, I will be praying for your unbelief to be transformed into belief. And what a glorious day that will be!!!
Jeanine
